Under the direction of:

Similar to Mozambique, Zambia’s political economy is heavily influenced by a transition from a single-party to multi-party, democratic regime (1991). A small, landlocked country in southern Africa, Zambia ranked slightly higher (166/177 opposed to 168/177 respectively) than Mozambique in the 2005 HDR. Important national development challenges include the HIV/AIDs pandemic (1 in 5 adults infected) (Christian Aid), regional and urban/rural cleavages and large external debt, despite qualifying for debt relief under the HIPC initiative, as well as more recently, through the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. In 2002, aid as a percentage of GNI was 18.1 in Zambia (Foster, 2005). The Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has headed up the government since the national elections in 1991 (Rakner 2003). Over the past fifteen years, Zambia has enjoyed sustained economic growth, and increasing foreign and domestic investment (Larmer 2005). In the 2002 PRSP, the chapter on Education emphasizes the importance of basic education and identifies the full implementation of the Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme (BESSIP) by 2005 as a key objective (World Bank 1999). The BESSIP, which began implementation in 1999, seeks to ensure that at a minimum, every child achieves the seven year primary cycle. Supporting this goal, in 2002 a Free Basi